JOHN RUDDY: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE POINTS

JOHN Ruddy insists clean sheets are of secondary importance ahead of Norwich City visiting Bolton Wanderers in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday (3pm).

The 28-year-old goalkeeper has kept shut-outs in successive matches for Alex Neil's side, helping them to collect six points over the Easter Weekend in the process.

However, speaking exclusively to canaries.co.uk following a signing session alongside team-mate Graham Dorrans at Chapelfield’s Canaries Official store, Ruddy said: “The only thing that matters at this stage of the season is points.

"If we get clean sheets then it’s great but I’d win every game 5-4 if necessary in order to get promoted. Three points is the aim for us, and with five games left there are 15 points to play for.

"The confidence is high in the group, and the last two games have epitomised how solid we look. Against Brighton we largely dominated and they didn’t cause us too many problems, then we ensured Sheffield Wednesday’s attacks were pretty non-existent.

"With five games to go we’ve got to keep those high standards. If we maintain our performances then we’ll get to where we want to be."

Having experienced automatic promotion to the Premier League with the Canaries four years ago, Ruddy knows better than most what it takes to get over the finishing line.

With just a handful of points separating multiple sides at the top of the division there is little margin for error, with the stopper commenting: "It doesn’t matter how you do it, you just have to get the wins.

"There are no easy games at this stage of the season; everyone is scrapping for points, including us. We have a target, and it’s up to us now to make sure we reach it.

"We have big-game players, and know within ourselves we can deal with the pressure. All we can do is concentrate on ourselves and go into games knowing what we can do.

"We've got 15 points left to play for and realistically if we get those 15 points we’re going to be promoted. It’s as simple as that, and we're confident we can get to where we want to be."
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